Chief Executive Aiden Kehoe said: "We are very angry and upset about this report because we don't believe that it gives an accurate picture, a comprehensive picture, of what is happening in terms of patient safety and quality.

"It in no way represents the good work that is going on around these issues within this trust. The Dr Foster report looks at a selective number of measures. But what it doesn't look at is whether you have actually reduced infections within the hospital.

"In this hospital we have slashed MRSA infections by 80% [and] our C.dif infections are down by 25% because of the good work that we are doing.

"I can reassure the patients here that there is tremendous work going on in terms of patient safety and quality at the trust."

A statement from the trust said it "consistently has one of the lowest hospital acquired infection rates".

"We are surprised and disappointed at this scoring from Dr Foster, especially as we were rated in the Top 40 Hospitals by CHKS (independent provider of healthcare intelligence and quality improvement services) earlier this year.

"We fully support the open sharing of information and all patient safety initiatives. However, we feel that the methodology used to calculate this patient safety score is unclear and very difficult for the public to understand."

Out of the 34 indicators, 31 were within the expected range, two were better than expected and only one was worse than expected.

This related to the administration of the reporting of safety incidents to a national body and has no impact on patient safety at this hospital.

Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust said the indicators Dr Foster used to score trusts with were "extremely confusing".

"Of the 13 areas on patient safety that they have used, our results are within the expected range for 10, better on one and worse on two," said chief executive Julia Squire.

Ms Squire added that the two were for retrospective and revised mortality rates for 2008/09 and that their current position is better than average.

She added: "People can be confident about the care we offer and our focus on patient safety. I am very happy for my family to be cared for at our hospitals and I can recommend our services to local people."

A spokesperson for the health care trust said it was an "improving hospital".

"No single measure can capture the complexity of what hospitals do and we certainly do not fully understand this Dr Foster data - it does not reflect the work which is being done by staff this year at the Trust."

Medical Director Dr Mike Lynch said he wanted to defend the trust's "record on safety".

He said: "I am particularly concerned about the impact this publication might have on our vulnerable patients and also our staff.

"We report frequently and regularly to the NPSA [National Patient Safety Agency] and they recognise that we are among the top performing hospitals around safety in the country."

Dr Lynch said the Care Quality Commission rated the trust as "excellent for the quality of care" for two consecutive years and a "raft of data that relates to safety and the patient experience" used to formulate those ratings had been "entirely disregarded".

The trust said it had a number of independent evidence-based ratings highlighting its "focus and innovation" in delivering excellent patient care.

It said that in November, the Care Quality Commission carried out an unannounced check which found it was fully compliant in 15 separate measures. The statement added that mortality rates at the trust have decreased three years in a row.

"Contrary to all of this, the forthcoming Dr Foster report, which rates us as a level 1, fails to recognise the in-depth level of inspection and quality of care achieved at the Trust."

"We would like to reassure our patients and public that UHCW prioritises patient safety at all times and the Dr Foster rating does not accurately reflect this, as evidenced by a number of in-depth, onsite, independent reviews."

A statement from the trust said it had "nationally recognised indicators" which show it is delivering safe care and that the mortality rate is well within the national average.

"The Trust answered Dr Foster's questionnaire honestly and in good faith and was alerted by Dr Foster that its score had been lowered by the responses to the questions on National Patient Safety Agency alerts.

"We can confirm that we are now fully compliant in this area and that the query was never about our delivery of care, but about whether we had a policy or procedure in place, for example."

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